07 July 2009

Everyone in today's society runs under the impression that going to a "good" college (good usually referring to Ivy League status) will help them achieve more in life. I hate to say it, but this is completely and utterly FALSE. It does not matter where you go to college, just as long as you go. As a matter of fact, some people do not even attend college and are still very successful in life, though I would not recommend skipping college. I am sure that you have all heard of Bill Gates, well he DROPPED OUT of HARVARD in order to create his first computer. Today, students would kill to attend Harvard, and Bill Gates just dropped out because he had other ideas for success. Look at him now, he is one of the richest men in the world, owns one of the biggest and best companies in the world, donates a ton of money to charity, just to name a few accomplishments, and he dropped out of college.

I strongly recommend that everyone goes to college as can be read in my previous articleGO TO COLLEGE and it does not matter where. Everyone who thinks that going to Harvard or Yale will make them more likely to succeed is wrong. Especially in today's society, anyone with good ideas is more likely to succeed than someone with a "good" education. I see this happening all of the time; people who go to UC Riverside or Wichita State University come up with great ideas and make millions of dollars. Why do they do well while other students don't? - because they have creative ideas beyond the ability to crunch numbers. Everyone can co math and science, but not everyone can think of the next million dollar gadget. This creativity is what ultimately makes one successful, not what college he/she attends.

The reason that most people try to go IVY is because of the name recognition. The education might be a little better than most other schools but not enough to merit the floods of applicants. The Ivy League notoriously turns out Supreme Court Justices and American Presidents, but has no more success in bringing out the creativity in students than the local city college. There is only a stereotype of Ivy League schools being better than others because some famous people come from them. People think that going to Harvard will make them as successful as Barack Obama, which is blatantly false. This belief drives college applicants to forsake living a "normal" life in place of studying to attain admission to the coveted Ivy League. Students and parents often forget that a "normal" life will expose students to more than constant studying, nurturing their creativity and improving their chances at happiness.

In short, the college you attend does not make you any more or less successful than other people. It is the creativity that one gains from college that really makes him or her successful. Everyone can solve mathematical equations, but not everyone has the ambition and creative ideas to succeed in life. No college can teach these things, which is why the college you attend does NOT matter.

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comments:

I completely agree with you on this and I am glad you brought this topic up. I believe it all comes down to two things, the professors and students. Really, professors are the ones who matter, not the school's reputation. You can have some of the best professors teaching in community colleges, as well as state colleges. Also, students are the ones who decide how to utilize a school's education.